Jake Fraser-McGurk delivers five balls of chaos, and a glimpse of the future

Four balls into his debut, he was looking like the next David Warner. By the fifth ball, he was walking off the park. But those five balls left no-one watching with any doubt, BEN HORNE writes: Jake Fraser-McGurk is a special talent.

Jake Fraser-McGurk launches a mammoth six at the SCG on debut for Australia against the West Indies. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images.

Was this the start of something special or was it just a lightning bolt?

All this hung in the air after Jake Fraser-McGurk’s hurricane debut for Australia, where he went off like a champagne cork … and then he was gone.

Fraser-McGurk threw everything including the kitchen sink at the first ball of the innings and came up with thin air.

He missed again next ball, before charging down to the third delivery from West Indian Alzarri Joseph and dispatching him down the ground for four.

Fourth ball, Fraser-McGurk got every piece of a colossal six hammered over deep square which off the bat looked and sounded as if it might leave the stadium and reach Randwick Racecourse on the full.

The press box was suddenly abuzz with chatter about whether this could be a repeat of the night David Warner announced himself on Twenty20 debut for Australia when he slaughtered South Africa at the MCG.

And then in the blink of an eye, it was over.

Jake Fraser-McGurk launches a mammoth six at the SCG on debut for Australia against the West Indies. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images.

Fraser-McGurk out to the fifth delivery of the first over of the 50-over match, prodding at a delivery on a Test match line and length with no footwork.

Hopefully the 21-year-old six-hitting prodigy gets another crack in the third and final ODI in Canberra on Tuesday, because it will be interesting to see how the kid they call ‘The Rooster’ learns from what happened at the SCG and approaches take two.

Mostly, the pyrotechnics in Sydney was a positive.

Here is a young talent who is a natural-born star, who plays with freedom and without fear.

It’s hard to bag a kid on international debut who says, ‘stuff it, I’m giving this a red hot crack.’

But Fraser-McGurk will know that his time opening the batting for Australia won’t last long without a bit more discretion thrown in with the fireworks.

Unfortunately, there are no prizes in cricket for who hits it the furthest and Australia’s mediocre 9-258 – saved only by No. 8 Sean Abbott – really wasn’t good enough against a weak opposition.

SIX AND OUT. A short flurry from Jake Fraser-McGurk doesn't last long in his ODI debut. Showing just a glimpse of his talent.

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Opening the batting is prime time to bat in white ball cricket, and a platform needs to be set by the top two – a skill mastered by Warner and Aaron Finch through their illustrious careers.

Some were surprised that selectors didn’t go with Big Bash player of the year Matt Short (41 off 55, who came in at No. 6) to open given he has served a decent apprenticeship now with the Australian side and it is his preferred position to bat.

Still, you have to admire the selectors for just letting the phenom Fraser-McGurk off the leash.

Some players don’t need to do the hard yards in domestic cricket that others do because their talent is so rare, and Fraser-McGurk is one of those players.

His 29-ball century for South Australia in the domestic one-day competition this year might have been just one innings – but it was one of those innings that simply can’t be ignored.

Just like when a young Glenn Maxwell in 2011 for Victoria smashed what was, at the time, the fastest domestic 50 ever scored off just 19 balls – and a star was born.

It is significant that both Warner and Maxwell rate Fraser-McGurk as the real deal and the next big thing.

Now it’s up to the young man to not get ahead of himself, take heed of the career stories of Warner and Maxwell and understand that even with all the talent in the world, nothing comes easy in international cricket.

Originally published as Jake Fraser-McGurk delivers five balls of chaos, and a glimpse of the future